Month: October 2024

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The death toll from this month’s devastating floods and landslides in Bosnia has reached 26 people, while rescue teams are searching for at least one more person still missing 10 days after a rainstorm caused havoc in the Balkan country, authorities said Monday.  Torrential rains and winds hit four municipalities in central and southern Bosnia on October 4. Homes, roads and bridges were destroyed, leaving villages cut off without roads or power.  Rescue teams have been sifting through the rubble for days, looking for those still missing. The hardest-hit area was in and around the southern town of …

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BRUSSELS — The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Iran’s deputy defense minister, senior members of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and three airlines over allegations that they supplied drones, missiles and other equipment to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.  Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari is one of seven senior officials now banned from traveling in Europe and whose assets in the bloc were frozen. The EU said he “is involved in the development of Iran’s [drone] and missile program,” given his high-level defense role.  Iran Air, Mahan Air and Saha Airlines had their assets frozen. The …

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Warsaw — Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday defended a plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as human rights and civil society organizations express concerns about the move.   Poland has struggled since 2021 with migration pressures on its border with Belarus — which is also part of the European Union’s external border.   “It is our right and our duty to protect the Polish and European border,” Tusk said Monday on X. “Its security will not be negotiated.”   Successive Polish governments have accused Belarus and Russia of organizing the mass transfer of migrants from the Middle East and Africa …

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Geneva — The head of the U.N. refugee agency warned on Monday that displacement crises in Lebanon and Sudan could worsen, but said tighter border measures were not the solution, calling them ineffective and sometimes unlawful. Addressing more than 100 diplomats and ministers in Geneva at UNHCR’s annual meeting, Filippo Grandi said an unprecedented 123 million people are now displaced around the world by conflicts, persecution, poverty and climate change. “You might then ask: what can be done? For a start, do not focus only on your borders,” he said, urging leaders instead to look at the reasons people are fleeing …

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Chisinau, Moldova — For many Moldovans, President Maia Sandu has become a symbol of change as she seeks to chart a new pro-European path for the former Soviet Republic.   Since Moscow invaded Moldova’s neighbor Ukraine, Sandu has lobbied for the West to support her country and hear its concerns that it could be the Kremlin’s next target.   She is now running for a second term on October 20 after defeating a Moscow-backed incumbent in 2020.   Applying for Moldova to join the EU in 2022, Sandu, 52, has laid out wide-ranging reforms to fight graft and bring in investment.   In stirring speeches, …

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dijon, France — The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), a sort of “U.N. of wine” which brings together experts from the sector, called for “sustainable development” of the vine Sunday, following a ministerial meeting in France. “The effects of climate change amplify” the challenges facing the vine, stressed 37 members out of 50 participating in the meeting at the OIV headquarters in Dijon. The signatories encourage “biodiversity reservoirs, such as grape varieties and the entire ecosystem that surrounds them, by limiting soil erosion, capturing carbon … and reducing waste,” adds the ministerial declaration, the first in the history of …

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Since May 2024, heavy fighting has been going on near the village of Hlyboke, some 30 kilometers from Kharkiv, and animals are the victims of active fighting just as much as locals. Volunteers recently rescued four ponies from Hlyboke, and now these horses are giving back… in their own way. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. …

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Paris — Chinese state-owned carmaker GAC is exploring the manufacture of EVs in Europe to avoid EU tariffs, the general manager of its international business told Reuters on Sunday, joining a growing list of Chinese companies planning local production.  The company is among China’s largest automakers and is targeting 500,000 overseas sales by 2030. It does not yet sell EVs in Europe but will launch an electric SUV tailored to the European market at the Paris Auto Show, which kicks off Monday.  GAC still viewed Europe as an important market that was “relatively open” despite moves by the European Commission to …

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Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron called on Iran’s leader Masoud Pezeshkian to support a “general de-escalation” in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in a telephone conversation Sunday, his office said. Macron stressed “the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and to use its influence in this direction with the destabilizing actors that enjoy its support.” Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters are fighting Israeli troops in Lebanon. The Iranian presidential website said that in his conversation with Macron, Pezeshkian had called for an end to “crimes” in Lebanon and Gaza. They discussed ways to secure a “cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel,” …

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